William F. Kruse, Amy Marcus-Newhall, and Michael Whalen at the grand opening of The Nucleus
By Kendra Pintor
Scripps College is excited to announce a generous $3 million gift commitment from the John Stauffer Charitable Trust. The landmark gift will establish an innovative endowed professorship in chemistry and art conservation.
Scripps College President Amy Marcus-Newall announced the gift on September 20 during the dedication of The Nucleus, the new state-of-the-art hub for scientific and creative collaboration at Scripps and Pitzer Colleges. John Stauffer Charitable Trust trustees Michael R. Whalen and William F. Kruse attended the celebration.
“This fund will create a new professorship in the Department of Natural Sciences and will support exceptional scholars who will forge new paths at the intersection of art, humanities, and science to solidify Scripps’ position as a leader in undergraduate art conservation education,” Marcus-Newhall said at the event. “The Stauffer Trust is a longtime supporter of science education at Scripps, and we appreciate their continued partnership to expand our distinctive interdisciplinary science curriculum.”
Scripps offers an art conservation major that combines the liberal arts and sciences to prepare students for a range of careers
The John Stauffer Charitable Trust’s historic philanthropy to Scripps College began in 1981 with a generous investment in scholarships. Since then, the trust has driven academic advancement of the sciences at Scripps with an endowed fund for summer research in chemistry and significant gifts to the W.M. Keck Science Department. This $3 million grant is the trust’s largest contribution to date.
“The new grant significantly increases the amount and broadens the scope of our support,” says Whalen. “We are proud to have provided grants to Scripps College for more than 30 years and are excited to celebrate this next step in our commitment.”
An endowed professorship is a prestigious academic position that is permanently funded by an endowed gift. The income generated from this endowment will support the chairholder’s innovative work, creating lasting benefits for the Scripps community and beyond.